Luke Wyland and Dana Valatka, the Portland, Oregon-based duo known as AU, embody a remarkable, cathartic energy that is immediately apparent on ‘Solid Gold’, the first single to be taken from their forthcoming album. Both Lights will be AU’s first album for The Leaf Label (released by Hometapes outside Europe).

Fortifying Valatka’s adrenalised percussion and Wyland’s soaring vocals and multi-tentacled performance on keys/guitar, is man-machine Colin Stetson on alto and bass saxophone. The B-side, ‘under/Epic’, is a reinterpretation of the album’s opening track, taking Stetson’s wild wind a notch higher and into the brightly lit stratosphere.

AU reflect that light. ‘Solid Gold’ is the first taste of a sweeping aural experience that captures Wyland and Valatka’s journey through three years of love, loss, and levity. “The back and forth, the tug of war for love,” says Wyland, getting at the root of ‘Solid Gold’, in essence a love song, “exhausting, exhilarating, and so totally not sustainable.” Like the best songs, in some way or another, we can all sing along to that.

AU (pronounced ‘ay-you’) first came to our attention in 2009 with the brilliant Versions EP, but Both Lights is really the long-gestating follow-up to 2008’s 'Verbs' album. In the interim Wyland has stripped his previously extensive band down to a two-piece, rewriting his own rulebook and honing the duo’s considerable talents. They’re quite capable of delivering astonishing, muscular live shows (Dana on drums, Luke playing everything else), something we hope you’ll get the chance to see in Europe in 2012.

The ‘Solid Gold’ 7” is limited to 500 copies for the world (just 150 for Europe), and is a joint release by The Leaf Label and Hometapes. Pressed on transparent yellow-orange vinyl, it’s packaged with full-color transparent cover art in a heavy PVC sleeve, and includes a free digital download.